Holidays

I know today is Halloween, but I’m already looking ahead to November, a month when we focus on family, food and, for some of us, on growing ugly mustaches. It’s also a great time to reflect on all of the good things in our lives.

Between all of the daily posts on social media, and the multitude of videos, articles, and books on the subject, it’s easy to feel like gratitude is just another trend, unworthy of your time and attention. This can be especially true if you’re feeling like some of your “friends” on Facebook are using the posts to humbly brag on their own lives and accomplishment (#blessed). However, there are many scientifically proven benefits to practicing gratitude that range from improving sleep to helping build relationships.

Even though I’ve read all of the research and know how helpful it is, I’ve always had a really tough time keeping up with a gratitude journal. It just feels too much like work to me.That’s why I decided to search for other ways to practice gratitude.

Take a look at seven ways to help you feel more grateful and balanced during this stressful, holiday season, without writing a single journal entry.

1.Meditate- Most of us don’t take time in our day to self-reflect. We’re so busy rushing from one task to the next, that we never stop to just be still. I recommend adding at least five minutes of meditation to each day. I love the Insight Timer app, which has dozens of guided meditations on the theme of gratitude. Taking just a few minutes to quiet our overworked brains can be so powerful!

2. Take a Pic- This idea came to me this morning, as I was rushing to take my big kids to school. I was not in a great mood as it was 7 am and I was awake, but when I pulled out of our driveway I saw the an almost full moon in the middle of a beautiful pink and orange sky. The beauty of that moment hit me with a wave of gratitude. If you have trouble coming up with gratitude lists after a long day, take pictures instead. If you can capture some of those grateful moments, it makes reflecting on them much easier.

3. Start a Gratitude Jar– Skip the pressure of the daily journal entry by keeping a gratitude jar this November. Add something to it whenever the mood strikes. Everyone in your family who is old enough to talk can contribute something to the jar. It could also be a way for family members to say thank you for the kind things you do for one another.

4. Play the Grateful Game– This idea, from Teach Beside Me, is another great way for the whole family to practice gratitude. If you played the game Pick Up Sticks as a kid, this is the same concept, except, when you pick up a stick, you have to say something you’re thankful for that matches that colored stick’s category. For example, if you pick up a red stick you have to name a person you’re thankful for, green sticks mean you need to share a food that you’re thankful for, and so on. If you can’t find the game, make your own with colored straws.

5. Have a Gratitude Storytime– These books are a great way to teach kids and adults alike about thankfulness:

• The Thankful Book- by Todd Parr– This fun book shows you that you can be thankful for things both big and small. Kids will love the silly illustrations.
• PAWS and THINK Series: Be Thankful for What You Have- by Miranda Mittleman– See the world through a dog’s eyes in this heartwarming story that teaches kids to appreciate the simple things.
• Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes– This beautifully illustrated book follows a family discussing all of the things they are thankful for. It includes a space at the back to record your own thankful thoughts.
• The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan– In this memoir, Kaplan spends a year living gratefully and documents the changes this made in her marriage, career and life in general.
• Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott– In her newest book, Lamott helps readers discover the hope and wisdom within themselves, even at the darkest of times. It came out last week and I just bought it to listen to on Audible. Book club, anyone?

6. Put Gratitude Out Into the World– Instead of just writing about the people you’re thankful for, say thank you to them in a genuine and specific way, give compliments freely when someone does, says or wears something that brings you joy. Don’t keep those thoughts to yourself.

7. Give Back– It’s easy for all of us to be so focused on our own problems that we forget how much we have compared to so many: a place to live, food, water, free public education, etc. It’s especially important for us to teach our children who have luckily never known another way of life outside of their comfy beds, Friday night pizza dinners and screen time.

There is no better way to bring home this lesson than to help others in need:

• Host a holiday party or playdate to benefit Feed More. Here’s a list of their most needed items.
• Volunteer in Feed More’s Community Kitchen and put together healthy meals for hungry children and homebound adults in your own community.
• Organize a fundraiser for refugees.
• Create Giving Bags by filling gallon bags with gloves, socks, hand and foot warmers, water, snacks and dollar bills. Hand them out to homeless men and women in your community.
• Organize a drive for your local hospital: VCU Health is currently looking for chemo care kits, fleece blankets and waiting room kits for both kids and adults. All items should be new, except for books and magazines.

Bonus: My holiday survival advice, take it or leave it:

• If you’re spending too much time stressing this holiday season, it is truly worth it to take five minutes to just be alone with your thoughts. If no one in your family will give you five minutes of peace, like my crazy crew, go take the dog for a walk, hide in your car or lock yourself in the bathroom. They can survive without you!
• If you’re feeling less than and comparing yourself to everyone’s highlight reels on Facebook and Instagram, it’s also worth it to take a social media hiatus over the next few months.
• When it comes to holiday dinners, decor and gift giving, do whatever works best for you and your family, and leave the rest to the Pinterest overachievers. Remember that they are a small 1% of the population with too much time on their hands. We’re too busy being adults with many important things to do!
• Expressing gratitude shouldn’t feel like another chore on your already massive holiday to-do list. It should be something that builds closeness within your family and brings contentment within yourself. If it feels artificial to you, don’t do it.
• When all else fails, there really isn’t much that an enitre bottle of wine, a hot bath and a few hours of Bravo reality TV can’t fix. You’ll either A) forget your troubles, B) fall asleep  C) feel more content with the drama in your own life, and possibly D) all the above. It’s basically fool-proof.

In the spirit of this post, thank you for taking the time to read my writing. Most of the time, like 99.9%, I have no idea what I’m doing, but writing things that may potentially help or entertain others brings me tons of joy.

Good luck this November! If your SO’s are considering celebrating Movember, extra good luck to you. I’ll cross my fingers that they look more Tom Selleck and less Michael Cera!

How YOU doin?

Oh HELL no.

♥ Erin

I’m guessing by now you can all tell that Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. Between the creative costume ideas, the scary movies,  the fall weather and the pumpkin-flavored everything, what’s not to love?? Even if Halloween isn’t your favorite, you won’t be able to deny the cuteness and fun of the activities, recipes and crafts below.

15 Halloween Crafts, Recipes and Activities To Try Today

CRAFTS and SENSORY

Photo credit: I Hearts Arts n Crafts’

Fluffy Pumpkin Slime– This would be such a cute activity to try at a playdate or to give away as favors at a preschool class party. I love the idea of putting the slime in glass jars and then decorating them to look like jack-o-lanterns. I’d suggest sprinkling in some pumpkin pie spice which is a lot easier to find than the pumpkin scented oil the author suggests using.

Photo credit: Mom Dot

Spider Web Mason Jars- I love how simple these jars are, and how cheap they’d be to make. I’d recommend getting some glow-in-the-dark glue sticks to make these decorations even cooler.

Photo credit: The Inspiration Edit

Halloween Monster Rocks– This is a great craft for toddlers, and all you need are rocks, paint, glue and google eyes.

Photo credit: Million Ideas Club

Halloween Hand and Footprint Canvas Art– How flipping’ cute are these. I love all of these different options so you can choose the one you like the best, or you can make them all! All you need is paint, glitter, sticker letters, and googly eyes.

Photo Credit: Clare’s Little Tots

Witch’s Potion Sensory Bin– How cute is this? Toddlers and big kids alike will love playing with this cool witch’s brew! Find the water beads here. You can turn the clear water beads into different colors with food coloring. Clare from the blog Clare’s Little Tots also turns this into a fine motor activity by having the children use large tweezers to transfer the plastic insects and googly eyes into smaller pumpkin containers.

RECIPES

Photo credit: The Seasoned Mom

Jack-O-Lantern Mac and Cheese Cups– So cute and so simple! Plastic cups, a sharpie, blue box M&C and a cucumber stick stem make this fun Halloween lunch complete!

Photo credit: Delish

Ghost Pizza Bagels– 4 ingredients make this recipe another super simple, but adorable appetizer for everyone in your family! Seriously, who can resist a pizza bagel?

Photo Credit: I Knead To Eat

6 Ingredient Monster Cookies– Kids will have a great time mixing in the food coloring and choosing which eyeballs go on each cookie. Using white cake mix as a shortcut makes this recipe quick and easy.

Photo credit: Spaceships and Laser Beams

Crescent Roll Witch Hats– Anyone else find crescent rolls seriously addicting?  Well, this recipe adds two kind of cheeses and salami to them! Yum!

Photo credit: Two Sisters Crafting

Candy Corn Popcorn– I feel like candy corn is one of those love it or hate it foods. Everyone has that one friend who ate too much of it as a child, and can’t even look at it to this day. I had the same experience with those gummy peach rings, but that’s a story for another time. Anyway, this recipe would work even for those who don’t usually do candy corn because here it’s mixed with buttery, salty popcorn. I personally can’t resist a salty/sweet combo like this one.

GAMES and ACTIVITIES

Photo credit: Spirited Puddle Jumper

Halloween Ghost Bowling– White paper cups, a sharpie, an orange and the patience it takes to continually restack the cups, are all you need for this game that will keep toddlers busy for at least thirty minutes.

Photo credit: Anything for an M&M

Refrigerator Jack-O-Lantern– Create a pumpkin out of orange paper and cut out shapes for the eyes and mouth out of a sheet of black foam. Tape the pumpkin to your fridge and then stick the foam face shapes onto the pumpkin with magnetic tape or masking tape. Ask your child to make a happy pumpkin, a sad pumpkin or a surprised pumpkin. This is a great social emotional activity that teaches kids how our faces can convey what we’re feeling.

Photo credit: Teachers Pay Teachers

Monster Freeze Dance– Kids LOVE a freeze dance. All you need is some fun Halloween music. I love this playlist!

Photo credit: Celebrations.com

DIY Photo Booth– Hang up a plastic black or Halloween tablecloth and orange crepe paper to create a fun backdrop. Make your own photo props with wooden dowels and construction paper or purchase cheap props at The Dollar Tree. Funny glasses, headbands, necklaces and hats all make great props! Have a blast taking pictures of your cuties!

Photo credit: Teachers pay teachers

Halloween Party Scoot Game– Get kids moving with this fun party game. Game cards tell kids what to do from showing off their best scared face to walking like a zombie. The game template can be purchased for only $3.25 at teacherspayteachers.com, but you could also use the idea to make your own. All you need is some notecards and markers.

LOCAL ACTIVITIES

Hey Richmond friends, check out these links for all the info on Halloween happenings in RVA during the next week!

Richmond Mom Halloween Guide 2018

Richmond Times Dispatch Halloween Guide: Kid-Friendly Events

Completely Kids Richmond’s Where to Find Trick or Treat Fun

Virginia.org’s Family Fun Calendar of Events– This site lists events happening all around Virginia. Check it out because there is nothing like a day trip to experience the fall foliage in our beautiful state!

Wishing you all a safe, fun-filled and festive Halloween!

♥ Erin

Halloween is just around the corner! Even if you’re not obsessed with the holiday like I am, you have to admit that seeing your adorable child looking even more adorable than usual is a ton of fun. Nowadays my kids won’t let me dress them up in any costume I choose, so if you have a baby or toddler, you have to take advantage of these years while you can! I miss those days!

Seriously, look how cute they were!

Enough reminiscing! If you want a great costume for your kid, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. The internet has tons of easy homemade costumes that even the most craft-challenged (ie. me) can handle!

Here are my ten favorites:

Photo credit: Pretty Prudent

FRIDA KAHLO

Supplies Needed:

• Scarf
• Colorful dress
• Eyeliner
• Plastic Flowers
• Clips or Bobby Pins

Photo credit: Make It & Love It

WHERE’S WALDO

Supplies Needed:

• Red and White Striped Shirt or Onesie
• Jeans or Navy Pants
• Red Pom Pom Hat
• Black Plastic Glasses

Photo credit: This House Is Not a Home

A BAG OF POPCORN

Supplies Needed:

• White Hat
• White Onesie, Shirt or Pajamas
• Thick White Material, Felt
• Red Felt Cut Into Stripes
• Extra Red and White Felt to Make Popcorn Label
• Glue Gun to Put it All Together

Photo credit: Catherine Marie

BOB ROSS

Supplies Needed:

• Curly Brown Wig
• Denim Shirt
• Painters Palette-You can find these cheap at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.
• Paint brush
• Paints to decorate the palette
• Brown Facepaint or Eyeliner to Draw on Brown Beard

STRONGEST MAN

Supplies Needed:

• Striped Tank Top
• Sweatshirt to Wear Underneath
• Small Balls or Balloons to Use as Muscles
• Black Felt or Black Eyeliner to Draw on Mustache
• Fake Barbell- A blow-up one like this would be great or you can use a black stick with black balloons tied around its ends.

Photo credit: See Vanessa Craft

CARE BEARS

Supplies Needed:

• Matching Hoodie and Pants of Any Color
• White Felt
• Colored Felt for Design and Ears
• Stencils-These can be used to help design the belly pictures if you’re really not artistically inclined.
• Glue Gun
• Puffy Paint

DWIGHT SCHRUTE

Materials Needed:

• Gray, Black or Khaki Pants
• Short-Sleeved Collared Shirt-preferably an ugly color like mustard or beige
• Ugly Tie
• Name Tag Sticker
• Large glasses-Go to the Dollar Tree for large reading glasses and pop out the frames.

STRAWBERRY

Materials Needed:

• Red Onesie and Red Pants for Underneath
• Stuffing like this to Create the Round Strawberry Effect
• Black Marker to Draw Seeds
• Green Hat
• Green Felt for the Leaves
• Glue Gun to Attach Leaves to Hat

RACE TRACK

Materials Needed:

• Black Outfit
• Yellow Electrical or Duct Tape
• Toy Cars
• Glue Gun
• Velcro- You can buy stick on velcro to add to the shirt and the cars so your child can actually stick the cars on and off the track in different places. So fun!

Photo credit: KCSTAUFFER/INSTAGRAM

MINI ELEVEN FROM STRANGER THINGS

Materials Needed:

• Pink Collared Dress
• Cardigan
• Sports Socks
• White Sneakers
• Blond Wig
• Red Lipstick for the Bloody Nose. I’d personally skip this on a kid, but if you want to have a really authentic costume, go for it!
• Eggo Waffles Box

I hope your kids have a great time this Halloween and, if you plan on going trick-or-treating, may your neighbors’ candy baskets be full of chocolate!

#SorryNotSorry

♥ Erin

Good Morning, GORGEOUS people! Last Monday I posted a video of Rachel Hollis with a link to her #Last90Days Challenge. The challenge starts today, October 1st, and I’m really excited to share it with you, and hopefully simplify what you need to do, so you can all jump right in and get started this morning! Sound good? Ok, here we go.

The premise of the challenge is that we humans often throw in the towel when it comes to fitness and nutrition during the last three months of the year. With all of the Halloween candy, turkey, and can I get an AMEN for all of that pie that will be put in our path over the upcoming holiday season, it’s no wonder so many of us fall off the wagon. We all vow to do better next year and start fresh on January 1st. Personally, I’m usually hungover and also promise myself to drink less, but that’s neither here nor there.

With #Last90Days, Rachel Hollis challenges herself and all of us to spend these last few months of the year taking care of our bodies and ourselves. Instead of overindulging on sweets, let’s overindulge on self-care. Instead of spending our time stressing out about making the perfect family dinner or buying the perfect gift, let’s say fuck perfection and focus on just being happy with life being the brutifal (that’s both brutal and beautiful) way that it is. Let’s ramp up for the new year and start our healthy habits now. If we can do that, think of how awesome and inspired we’ll all feel in January.

The challenge is so very simple. All you need to do is follow Rachel’s Five to Thrive plan, and get ready to end 2018 strong!

Five to Thrive

1.) Get up an hour earlier each day and spend that extra time on yourself and ONLY yourself.

2.) Exercise for 30 minutes each day.

3.) Hydrate. Your water intake in ounces should equal half your body weight.

4.) Give up one food category that you know you shouldn’t be eating. We all know and love these categories well; sugar, alcohol, dairy, soy, gluten. Choose one and kick it to the curb.

5.) Write down ten things you are grateful for every day. These things can be general (my children) or very specific (Haagen Daaz Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream that has been set out of the freezer for 5 minutes so it scoops perfectly onto my waiting spoon).

That’s all there is to it. You can officially sign up for the challenge here to receive weekly videos and emails designed to inspire you to stick with it!

I’m excited to officially start today and I hope you will all join me!

Here’s a link to a great video that will hopefully inspire you to make the time to achieve your goals, and help get you in the right frame of mind for the next three months. Rachel gives us some tough love in this one, and she’s not wrong. We DO have the time and we need to decide what we want most.

We CAN do hard things!

♥ Erin

It’s May and it’s finally feeling like spring! I don’t know about you all, but Mother’s Day has really snuck up on me this year. I usually like to get something for my mom and my mother-in-law to go along with a homemade card or note from the kids. I got this cute idea from Amy at the aptly named, Idea Room, but wrote my own poem. My mother-in-law loves to bake and cook with my kids. She’s great at making plans for pizza nights and cookie nights with them whenever they sleep over so I thought this personal, but practical gift would be perfect.

Almost everything you need for the craft can be purchased at the Dollar Tree: oven mitt, sponge, string. Buy the smallest jar of white and red fabric paint you can find. I got mine at Michaels for under $5. The fabric paint will keep the handprint on the oven mitt, even if it needs to be washed.

Materials Needed:

• Oven Mitt
• Fabric Paint (I used red and white.)
• Sponge or Foam Brush
• Yarn or String
• Single Hole Punch
• Printable Mother’s Day Gift Tag (printable below)

MOTHERS DAY OVEN MITT INSTRUCTIONS from the Idea Room

1. Take your oven mitt and place it on a flat surface.:
2. Take your child’s hand and paint a little fabric paint on the palm of their hand with a foam brush. Don’t do a lot of paint. If you paint it on so that it isn’t too thick you will get a little more definition of the hand rather than a large glob of paint. You may want to practice on a piece of paper first.
3. Take the child’s hand and hold it steady with your own two hands and gently press it onto the fabric making sure that the entire hand is pressed on the oven mitt.
4. Wash your child’s hand and then let the paint dry. If there are a few areas that did not get enough paint, you can take a small paint brush and touch up those areas.
5. Take the red paint and paint a heart over the child’s palm print.
6. Print out the free Mother’s Day Poem on some white card stock and attach it with some yarn or string.

Find the free printable Mother’s Day Poem here. When you go to print it you can change the printing size from 100% if it will print to big.

Happy Mother’s Day!

♥ Erin

Hey Parents, if you’re stumped on what to get your kids’ teachers this year, I got you covered. After living with teachers my entire life and then becoming one myself, I’m sort of an expert on the subject. There are tons of #1 teacher ornaments, mugs and knick-knacks out there, not to mention all of the apple-themed gifts. Also, now that we live in the world of Pinterest, there is also shit like this:

I mean, who has the time?

And this:

Are you frickin’ kiddin’ me?

But before you break out the glue gun and glitter, please take a minute to think it through. Imagine a first year teacher with 18 kids in his or her classroom. Now imagine if each year, for his or her first five years of teaching, half of those kids gifted the teacher ornaments for Christmas. That’s already 45 ornaments! My mom taught elementary school for over thirty years. Just sit back and try to imagine the sheer volume of knick knacks and tchotchkes! Half of our Christmas ornaments were adorned with apples, for God’s sake! It was overwhelming!

This year, please put down that ornament and show your appreciation for your child’s teacher with a gift that they will appreciate as well.

Four Gifts Teachers Love To Get:

1.) Gift cards- This may seem impersonal, but you know what, the teacher isn’t a friend or relative so impersonal is ok! To make it more personal you can find out about their interests and then get a gift card tailored to them. Our school has teachers fill out a form like this one at the beginning of the year to help with gift ideas. Last year, I used these funny gift tags, and they were a big hit.

2.) Personal Notes From You or Your Child- Eleven years ago, when I was in my second year of teaching, one of my parents wrote me a short note telling me how much I helped her son that year. I teared up when I read it, and I still have it. Teachers don’t go into education for the glamour or the money, and it’s often a pretty thankless job day after day. Telling him or her how important they are and what a difference they’ve made can really make a teacher’s day.

3.) Gifts for the classroom– Ask the teacher what they need the most right now and then go out and purchase those things. Teachers are often going out and buying school supplies with their own money. You can save their money and their valuable time by taking care of this for them.

4.) Edible Gifts– My mom got a delicious cranberry loaf every Christmas, and I looked forward to eating that thing pretty much all year! If you have something special that you love to make; cookies, fudge, toffee, etc. that’s something special that you can share with the teachers. You can also use the list I posted above to find out your teacher’s favorite foods and provide them a basket with three or four of those favorites. Be sure to check for any allergies or sugar restrictions.

Happy Holidays and Happy Gifting!

♥ Erin

October is  here and I’m excited because it’s my favorite month. I frickin’ love Halloween! I love it so much that I even married someone with a Halloween birthday. In addition to celebrating with our kids, we’ve been having an adults-only costume party for the past nine years that we lovingly refer to as October-Faced. My friend and neighbor, Christy, and I love any excuse for a party. Our husbands both have October birthdays, so the party doubles as a celebration for them and we take turns hosting each year.

If you have an adult party to go to this Halloween, here are some of my favorite costume ideas from over the past nine years.

Solo Costumes:

Momma To Be Costumes:

Couples Costumes:

Stairway to Heaven and Highway to Hell

Group Costumes:

I hope these ideas will help to get your creative juices flowing, and mine too, for that matter. I have no idea what we’re going to do this year! I’ll keep you posted. Happy October!

♥ Erin